Republicans audition for 2016 presidential race in conservatives' powwow

OXON HILL, Maryland (AP) - Only months after President Barack Obama's re-election, an annual gathering of conservatives served as an audition for Republicans looking to court conservative activists and raise their profile ahead of what could be a crowded Republican presidential field in 2016.

It may seem early, but the diehard activists who attended the three-day Conservative Political Action Conference are already picking their favourites for 2016.

The conservative gathering was to release its straw poll results late on Saturday afternoon, offering a symbolic boost to one of the high-profile Republicans on the ballot, even though none has made his or her 2016 intentions known.

That doesn't mean they're not thinking about it. They've all injected their prescriptions for the future of the wayward Republican Party, which suffered major losses in last November's election.